Murderer. Raymond Harris, 26, used elderly victim's ring, Virginia Perillo, 73, to propose to girlfriend, prosecution says 73-year-old former nurse was beaten to death in her Chicago garage

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CHICAGO — An Illinois man has been accused of killing a 73-year-old former nurse and then using her engagement ring to propose to his girlfriend, NBC Chicago reported.

Raymond Harris, 26, of Carpentersville, was arrested Tuesday in Elgin, police told the station, and charged with the first-degree murder of Virginia Perillo and armed robbery.

Harris was Thursday denied bond in the beating death, which took place last month in Perillo's garage in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood.

On Oct. 22, a neighbor driving by Perillo's house found her garage open and her body on the ground unresponsive, according to the report. Police say Perillo was brutally beaten, with her face smashed.

Prosecutors say DNA evidence found in Perillo's car matched Harris' DNA.

Harris left behind his watch after the struggle, the station reported. Harris then stole her wedding and engagement rings, prosecutors said, and took them to a party later that night in order to propose to his girlfriend.

Attempted murder
Harris was on parole after serving roughly half of a 30-year sentence for attempted murder and aggravated arson in 1997. Prosecutors said he broke into a woman's home, beat and raped her over a period of hours, and set her house on fire. The victim was able to escape.

Perillo's family said the arrest brought some relief and closure.

They said in a statement they had worked with Chicago Police and felt fortunate that "various pieces of evidence" were found pointing to Harris.

"It has been a stressful and busy time for us knowing that the person that murdered my mom was still out there," Perillo's family said in a statement.

"We're just relieved knowing that there is one less criminal on the street. We can begin the healing process and put some closure to this and hopefully find the answers as to why," they added.

Perillo spent more than 40 years as a registered nurse at Rush University Medical Center.

Harris is due in court Nov. 29 for a status hearing.

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OMG!!!!
This POS had been paroled after serving half of a 30 year sentence for attempted murder and aggravated arson! From the description of what he did to that victim it's a wonder she's alive.
These parole officers and/or whoever is responsible for these horribly violent people paroled should have to be accountable when they murder again!
That poor woman, 73 years old and beat to death - there was no reason he had to beat her like that, at that age she would have likely complied with whatever he wanted to do to her. What a monster who needs to fry. It makes me sick.

I think what he wanted from her was her wedding and engagement rings. My guess is he lashed out at her that way because she was unwilling to just hand them over to him.

Virginia Perillo was found by a next-door neighbor inside the garage behind her home in the 3300 block of South Parnell Avenue at about 10:10 p.m. on Oct. 22, according to police and her son.

The garage door was open, and Perillo was lying on the ground between two cars. One of them was still running and the driver's side door was open, her son said.

Perillo suffered serious head wounds and never regained consciousness before dying late Sunday, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner's office. Police say she may have been robbed.

Perillo worked for more than 40 years as a nurse at Rush University Medical Center. She had just turned 73 on Oct. 10.

The family said her husband Mauro suffered a stroke a few weeks before the slaying. Perillo had spent most of the day Saturday visiting him at Rush Hospital and probably had just returned home when she was attacked.

The man in custody was convicted in 1997 of attempted murder and aggravated arson and sentenced to 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, according to records. The man was paroled from state prison in May, records show.

Previously, he had also been sentenced in 1993 to a six-year prison sentence for armed robbery, records show.

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